Running in afternoon rain yesterday, I followed my mind through thoughts of tomorrow’s retreat with a physical therapy team in (very!) south Texas.
What I offer below is not, repeat, not new information. However, it struck me between miles 3 and 4 yesterday as worth remembering.
- Ask what you do not know. Too often we’re told we should know the answer we’re looking for. Not
so. That frame of mind limits what we can learn. A manager/leader should be just as eager to learn as anyone. In fact, the manager/leader wants to demonstrate the true Questioning Mind behavior if she wants hers to be a true Learning Organization. (And what better way to promote employee engagement than by promoting a continuous curiosity for knowledge?). - Answer from your heart and from your head. Managers and leaders are thought to have the answers all thought out. You want your answers to have feeling as well. Keep in mind that people enjoy working for/with those who care. Care originates in the heart. Granted, you’ll want to do some weighing of your answer-parts to ensure that both your thinking and your feeling are represented proportionately. And that means you may do some editing between the feeling/thinking and the speaking.
- Listen to what you say. You’ve heard the adage, Think before you speak. It is equally important to
listen as you speak. It can be too easy for one’s voice to say things not really meant. By listening objectively to what we say, we give ourselves (and our communication partner) great opportunities. These include the opportunity to correct, to add, to qualify, to verify and validate. Perhaps most important is the opportunity to avoid the "Did I say that?! I didn’t say that?! Did I…?!"
No denying that communication is the most critical component of the work we do, whatever that work is. Follows that it’s a pretty good idea to give time and attention to making that component more effective.
Tags: Communication, Leadership, Management
